# Photos: All about Bill Charlap: His solos so imaginative and impeccable throughout … Video

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2017/10/09/photos-all-about-bill-charlap-his-solos-so-imaginative-and-impeccable-throughout-video/
- Published: 2017-10-09T22:21:15+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**The last time I saw pianist Bill Charlap was in July at 92Y’s _Jazz in July_ series
in New York, where he directed one of the most intimate and rewarding jazz concerts
I’ve seen in some time. **

Bill’s trio backed Jimmy Heath and Benny Golson, two legendary tenor saxophonists
who were in superb form that night. Jeremy Pelt also joined the group on trumpet.
Much of the concert’s cohesion and success was a result of Bill’s inspiring performance.
His solos were so imaginative and impeccable throughout that both Jimmy and Benny
would wander over to the piano to watch the magic. Bill was really something, not
to mention Jimmy and Benny, bassist David Wong and drummer Kenny Washington.

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 Now Bill has released _Uptown, Downtown_ (Impulse), a trio recording
featuring Peter Washington on bass (above) and Kenny Washington on drums (no relation).
Recorded in March 2017, the song list includes many surprises. [Photo above of Peter
Washington courtesy of Bill Charlap].

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 The album opens with Gerry Mulligan’s
_Curtains_, which Bill recorded with Mulligan on the baritone saxophonist’s album
_Lonesome Boulevard_ in 1989. Bill also recorded the song with Ted Rosenthal on 
their_ Gerry Mulligan Songbook_album in 1996. On his new version of the song, Bill
teases out the ballad’s complexity and rich harmony beautifully.

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 Bill’s rendition of Tommy Wolf and Fran Landesman’s _Spring Can 
Really Hang You Up the Most_ is deeply sensitive, patient and introspective. It 
evolves slowly, like a blooming flower, and the song is among my favorites on the
album.

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 Stephen Sondheim wrote _Uptown, Downtown_ for _Follies _(1971),
but the song was cut from the musical and wound up in his _Marry Me a Little_ (1980),
a musical comprised of Sondheim rejects from other shows. Bill’s version lifts the
song into a jazz place without losing the song’s theatrical swagger.

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 The One I Love Belongs to Somebody Else
 was a fox trot written by
bandleader Isham Jones and Gus Kahn in 1924 for Al Jolson to record with Jones that
year. But the standard’s best-known version probably is the one recorded by Frank
Sinatra in June 1940 with Tommy Dorsey and the Pied Pipers. Dig Bill’s sporty endings.
In fact, all of the endings on this album are delightfully fanciful.

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 Michael Leonard and Herbert
Martin’s _I’m All Smiles_ was written for the 1965 Broadway musical _The Yearling_.
The show was blessed with quite a marketing push, as Barbra Streisand recorded four
songs from the production—one on _People,_ two on _My Name Is Barbra_ and another
on _My Name is Barbra Two._Among the many jazz artists who took on the song were
Hampton Hawes, Nancy Wilson and Bill Evans, who recorded it on_ From Left to Right,_
his acoustic piano/Fender Rhodes album in 1971. Bill Charlap here takes the song
nice and slow, making great use of space and allowing all of the waltz’s romantic
qualities and colors to emerge. Another favorite.

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Bill’s version of There’s a Small Hotel by Rodgers and Hart for Broadway’s On Your
Toes (1935) is nothing short of extraordinary. Fully aware he had to take this over-
recorded standard to another level, Bill delivers by choosing a walking pace and
giving it a George Shearing feel, with touches of Oscar Peterson and Erroll Garner
thrown in. And again, Bill delivers one of the prettiest song endings. [Image above
is the show’s 1954 revival]

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 Gigi Gryce’s _Satellite_
was first recorded by Gryce on Art Farmer’s _Evening in Casablanca_ (Prestige) in
1955. Bill works wonders on this upbeat and intricate bop composition.

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 Guitarist Jim Hall recorded his _Bon
Ami_ on _Dialogues_ in 1995 and Bill followed the following year with a trio version
on his _Distant Star_ album. On the new album, Bill doesn’t stray far from the successful
approach he used in ’96.

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 Sophisticated Lady
 by Duke Ellington
was written in 1932 and recorded in 1933. Bill quickens the traditional tempo and
adds a strong shot of swing throughout.

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As always, gorgeous accompaniment by Peter Washington and Kenny Washington. Their
tenderness is really something. [Photo above of Kenny Washington by Johan Broberg,
courtesy of Kenny Washington].

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 One
final note: Bill dedicated the album to engineer Jim Czak (above), who died suddenly
last winter. Jim would have called me to rave about this album. I miss him and those
passionate calls.

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